The 51st
The 51st is an original fictional team made up of original characters, but based loosely upon canon Marvel material. Team History In response to the expansion of the Superhuman Registration Act to include the criminalization of the X-Gene, the Initiative developed one additional team with the sole and specific purpose of identifying, tracking, and detaining mutants in the United States. Dubbed "the 51st", its five members operated with greater secrecy and autonomy than its sister teams, moving freely throughout the country and answering only to the highest authorities in the Initiative. What little the public knows about the 51st comes mostly from brief glimpses in news footage, but David Alleyne, a S.H.I.E.L.D. operative and mutant intelligence consultant to the Initiative, was able to betray many details about the team to his former students. The five members of the 51st are all clones of Initiative recruit Michael Van Patrick. Van Patrick was the great grandson of Dr. Abrahman Erksine, the genius scientist responsible for the Super Soldier Serum that gave Captain America his powers. Michael Van Patrick was raised according to a special diet and exercise regimen that Erksine had designed to produce a natural version of the original serum's effects. The result was a young man of peak human potential, utterly perfect down to the cellular level: a natural Captain America. Michael Van Patrick was killed during a training accident, but his body was cloned several times, and five of these clones were put into action as the 51st. In addition to their naturally gifted abilities, each clone was given a unique set of super powers designed to counter a specific type of threat. Advanced training techiniques and compressed educations were uploaded to their minds along with personality programming that gave them the discipline and drive necessary to carry out their mission. Lastly, they were given codenames from a military phonetic alphabet. New X-Men Following the passage of Senator Evangeline Whedon's Mutant Rights Act, the 51st was immediately and officially disbanded by the order of S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Tony Stark. The 51st betrayed this order, opting instead to go rogue and pursue mutants on their own. Long suspicious of David Alleyne's commitment to the Initiative, the clones' first act was to follow him in hopes that he would lead them to any mutants he may have been sheltering over the years. Their suspicions proved to be justified: Alleyne met with his former students, Alexander and Kelly Derasmo, Nathan Jacobe, and Andrea Richmond outside the boarded-up Xavier Institute in Westchester County. They engaged the mutants, but were soundly defeated after a brief skirmish and were forced to escape via teleportation. Roster The 51st is unusual in that it has no internal command structure. The five clones relate to eachother as brothers and equals, and work more like a single unit than a team. In alphabetical order their codenames, intended purposes, and granted powers are: *'Charlie:' anti-energy. Given energy draining, absorption, and reflection powers. *'Echo:' anti-mobility. Given advanced Slip-drive teleportation technology, supernatural agility, and equipped with eight entangling metalic tendrils. *'Kilo:' anti-melee. Given tremendous supernatural strength and enhanced durability. *'Romeo:' anti-intelligence. Given advanced cybernetic sensory upgrades, invisibility powers, and equipped with a long-range assault rifle with a variety of tactical rounds, including Glory-tipped syringes. *'Whiskey:' anti-psionics. Given powerful psionic powers including force and anti-telepathic fields. Resources In addition to powers granted via the Initiative, the 51st wear advanced, light-weight polymer body armor and are trained in all manner of melee weapons, firearms, and explosive devices. Each has a basic Slip-drive teleportation device integrated into their armor, which allows for single long-range trips, after which several minutes of recharting and recalibration is necessary before another trip can be made. Echo is the only exception: his powers include a more advanced Slip-drive prototype capable of multiple, rapid-fire jouneys. They are also in possession of a specially outfitted shuttlecraft capable of supersonic flight. However, fuel is likely a very limited resource for the team. Most of their equipment, including their body armor, weapons, Slip-drives and even their shuttle is based on Purifier designs and technology. The Purifiers spent decades perfecting the tools necessary to hunt mutants, and the Initiative managed to reverse engineer and improve upon captured samples in the wake of the Last Stand. Exactly what else they managed to steal from the Initiative before going rogue is unknown. Category:Teams